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"He is almost regarded as a living entity, a kind of fun ursine household god (it is perhaps significant that the very first licensed Kumamon product was a Budd

"He is almost regarded as a living entity, a kind of fun ursine household god (it is perhaps significant that the very first licensed Kumamon product was a Buddhist shrine emblazoned with his face)." Things like this fascinate me about Japan. How is this understood? Is it a "South Park" style sacrilegious parody, or do Japanese Buddhists actually find this totally acceptable?

adrianratnapala 10y ago
I know nothing about Japanese culture, but my guess is that it is monks trying to be hip. Some of the onookers will roll their eyes, and others will agree that this is a nice way for them to keep up with contemporary culture.
Freak_NL 10y ago
Not unlike a Hello Kitty rosary (do these exist?), it is a votive item used in a personal household. It will raise a few eyebrows, but won't be decried as sacrilegious.
bitwize 10y ago
Japanese have a different concept of sacredness and sacrilege than what we Westerners are used to. In Christianity, God is inherently good -- the source of all good things -- so anything which desecrates, trivializes, or insults God is inherently evil. Note the use of increasingly obscure terms to refer to God rather than calling him by name -- "just to be safe" -- especially in Judaism. In Japan, the kami aren't really good or evil -- they just are. Most of them are more like neighbors than lord and master of the earth. So paying them respect can take many forms, including offering them cute shrines. I'm sure people believe that if the kami were angry about it, they'd let you know.
po 10y ago
I am by no means an expert, but after living here for a while I have had to adjust my conception of what sacrelegious means. I think my understanding of it (after growing up in the US and primarily being exposed to christian and jewish customs) was 'pious sincerity' or 'seriousness'. In Japan, religious practice is not as serious as I was used to, even if many people are very serious about observing. There's not as much value placed in physical artifacts. Historic buildings get razed (pour one out for the Hotel Okura), earthquakes destroy cities… people move on. The culture needs to be respected and honored but new artifacts will always arise which honor that line of culture. You respect your ancestors by however you show respect.. bowing, keeeling, building a shrine out of discarded PS2's or whatever. If it is heartfelt, then how you do it mostly reflects on you. So associating a mascot (which is a totally accepted cultural tool) with a religious artifact isn't considered bad because there is no negative association with it. People love kumamon! Anyway, that's my view on it. I am sure I have a lot to learn still. As an aside: Even the police like to get in on the cute. Note the mascot at the bottom of the tokyo police website. Pepo-kun is all over Tokyo to make the police more approachable. He's named after the sound that police cars make: "peee-poh-peee-poh" http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/multilingual/english/index.html http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/multilingual/english/ind...
- kens 10y ago
  To add to your comment on the transience of historical buildings, the Ise Jingu shrine gets torn down and rebuilt every 20 years, and this has been happening for 1300 years! http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-japanese-shrine-has-been-torn-down-and-rebuilt-every-20-years-for-the-past-millennium-575558/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-japanese-shrin... Also, according to Freakonomics, Japanese houses are "disposable", commonly torn down and rebuilt. http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-are-japanese-homes-disposable-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast-3/ http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-are-japanese-homes-dispo...

adrianratnapala 10y ago

I know nothing about Japanese culture, but my guess is that it is monks trying to be hip. Some of the onookers will roll their eyes, and others will agree that this is a nice way for them to keep up with contemporary culture.

Freak_NL 10y ago

Not unlike a Hello Kitty rosary (do these exist?), it is a votive item used in a personal household. It will raise a few eyebrows, but won't be decried as sacrilegious.

bitwize 10y ago

Japanese have a different concept of sacredness and sacrilege than what we Westerners are used to. In Christianity, God is inherently good -- the source of all good things -- so anything which desecrates, trivializes, or insults God is inherently evil. Note the use of increasingly obscure terms to refer to God rather than calling him by name -- "just to be safe" -- especially in Judaism. In Japan, the kami aren't really good or evil -- they just are. Most of them are more like neighbors than lord and master of the earth. So paying them respect can take many forms, including offering them cute shrines. I'm sure people believe that if the kami were angry about it, they'd let you know.

po 10y ago

I am by no means an expert, but after living here for a while I have had to adjust my conception of what sacrelegious means. I think my understanding of it (after growing up in the US and primarily being exposed to christian and jewish customs) was 'pious sincerity' or 'seriousness'. In Japan, religious practice is not as serious as I was used to, even if many people are very serious about observing. There's not as much value placed in physical artifacts. Historic buildings get razed (pour one out for the Hotel Okura), earthquakes destroy cities… people move on. The culture needs to be respected and honored but new artifacts will always arise which honor that line of culture. You respect your ancestors by however you show respect.. bowing, keeeling, building a shrine out of discarded PS2's or whatever. If it is heartfelt, then how you do it mostly reflects on you. So associating a mascot (which is a totally accepted cultural tool) with a religious artifact isn't considered bad because there is no negative association with it. People love kumamon! Anyway, that's my view on it. I am sure I have a lot to learn still. As an aside: Even the police like to get in on the cute. Note the mascot at the bottom of the tokyo police website. Pepo-kun is all over Tokyo to make the police more approachable. He's named after the sound that police cars make: "peee-poh-peee-poh" http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/multilingual/english/index.html http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/multilingual/english/ind...

kens 10y ago
To add to your comment on the transience of historical buildings, the Ise Jingu shrine gets torn down and rebuilt every 20 years, and this has been happening for 1300 years! http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-japanese-shrine-has-been-torn-down-and-rebuilt-every-20-years-for-the-past-millennium-575558/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-japanese-shrin... Also, according to Freakonomics, Japanese houses are "disposable", commonly torn down and rebuilt. http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-are-japanese-homes-disposable-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast-3/ http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-are-japanese-homes-dispo...